


Game of Letters

by kokorokarisu



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: 999 Au, Basically, Evan's POV, F/F, I suck at updating but I'm gonna try my best, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mystery, TRUST NO ONE, blood and gore (not a lot but when I get to it it'll be described in detail so be careful), lets start this, puzzle death game, third person, tree bros and galaxy gals will happen eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-14 11:18:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11782062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kokorokarisu/pseuds/kokorokarisu
Summary: 8 people. Trapped on a sinking boat with only their wits, mysterious bracelets that can't be removed and the very real fear of a pressing time limit.The Game of Letters pushes those involved to their very limits.If Evan is certain of one thing, it's that he's going to make it out of all this alive.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Eyyyyyy so I had this idea at like 3am so let's see where this goes shall we? For those of you who don't know, 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors is a mystery puzzle/visual novel game where 9 seemingly different individuals are trapped on a boat and have to escape. They have numbered bracelets and use those to go through numbered doors in what is called the Nonary Game. This is basically an au of that but instead of numbers, characters are allowed to pass through based on what letters are in their names.

Evan Hansen was a failure of a human being.

He grumbled lowly to himself, kicking at the ground as he walked. What kind of kid would rather starve than talk to someone for a brief minute or two? He did apparently. He really was pathetic. His hand closed tighter around the note in his pocket. Mom was going to be mad for sure. She tried her very best to help Evan but he saw her frustrations. He saw the sadness in her expression whenever he couldn't do something seemingly mundane. It hurt him to think that he was hurting her, but he also couldn't exactly help it.

  
It was a chill autumn evening that would only grow colder as the sun sank lower in the sky. The leaves on the trees had already started to turn hues of orange and red. A cool breeze tugged at his clothes and blew on his skin.

He sighed. The walk to the convenience store and back had been exercise right? It wasn't completely worthless? Yeah. Sure. You keep telling yourself that. Evan groaned.

Evan Hansen was now in his final year of high school. He lived with his mother in a small but cosy bungalow with a little garden. It was nice. Evan rather liked gardening.

He pulled his keys from the pocket of his hoodie with shaky hands. Not that they shook for any particular reason. His hands were just always like that.

It made him a little happy to note that his mother's car was parked in the driveway. Maybe he wouldn't have to go hungry after all. Once he got past her inevitable disappointment at his inability to deal with basic human interaction of course. She was rarely home at this time of day though, and she hadn't even told him she would be when she'd dropped him at school on her way to work that morning. Maybe they’d get takeout and watch bad TV or something. They hadn't done that in a long while.

He opened the door and looked around for signs of his mom.

Her coat was on the coat rack and her shoes were at the door, so she must be here. The house seemed silent though, which was weird. His mom liked to put the radio on, or hum absentmindedly while she got on with whatever it was she was working on. This was definitely weird and something was definitely wrong.

Evan tensed up immediately. His flight instincts were screaming at him to run as the hairs on the back of his neck rose, but he knew this was probably his just mind playing cruel tricks on him. It usually was.

That didn't stop his body from trembling as he took another shaky step into the house.

He resisted the urge to bolt as he made his way down the hall to his bedroom to dump his things. Everything was fine. Everything was just fine.

The first thing that struck him as odd was how cold his room was. It was never usually this cold. He shivered.

It's alright. Everything is fine. Your mind is playing tricks on you. There's nothing to be afraid of.

The second thing Evan noticed was that his window was open. He knew almost for a fact that he had not left his window open. Has his mom opened it? If so why? Why would she do that? She knew he didn't like it open as he was always scared something would come in. What that something was he couldn't say for certain. But the vulnerability that came with an open window on the ground floor made his chest tighten.

He spun on his heel, determined to find his mom and have her explain just what was going on.

He didn't have the chance to. Before he knew it he was screaming. Even sooner than that was a hand over his mouth.

He had only glimpsed it briefly, but the figure had been wearing a gas mask. They had been wearing dark clothes and stood a good bit taller than he did which was menacing enough in its own right.

This was a stranger in his house. The one place where he was supposed to feel safe. This was it. He was going to die, oh god, he was literally about to die.

"It's alright. It'll all be over soon" the figure had told him in a distorted voice that made them even more terrifying and impossible to identify.

He attempted to scream again, but the hand over his mouth was so strong and the person seemed to be forcing him to breathe something in. Something that made his consciousness waver.

No, he had to fight it! He couldn't let this person hurt his mom if they had her too! He had to... had to...

"Go to sleep. The game is waiting for you." in a distorted voice was the last thing Evan Hansen heard before it all went black.

\------------

Evan Hansen did not feel well. He felt extremely nauseous and had to physically will himself not to throw up as he cautiously opened his eyes.

His vision was blurry and his ears felt like they were full of water after a swim. It took him a moment to figure out he was even lying down.

Then, as his senses returned, so did his memories. The person in the mask, the open window, the cry for help that went unheard.

He sat bolt upright. Evan was terrified. This place was totally foreign to him and it became sickeningly real how bad this was and how it was a miracle he wasn't dead. The voice in his head chimed in that he probably wouldn't be alive much longer and he thanked it because wow brain that's just perfect right now, thanks for the pick me up.

Evan swallowed the lump in his throat and attempted to get to his feet. He had been sitting on what appeared to be the bottom bunk of a bunk bed.

The room appeared to be a cabin of some sort, considering the porthole window and minimalist furnishings. The ceiling was water-stained and the floor was a dull metal. Everything else was coloured grey or something equally drab. It made the place resemble a prison. Other than the beds, there was a damaged wooden vanity with a cracked mirror and two drawers, a small trash can and locker with its door wide open. The locker appeared to be empty, but he’d have to investigate further to be sure.

In regards to himself, Evan noted that he hadn't been harmed in any way. He was still in the same clothes, but all of his belongings had been removed from his pockets. Attached to his wrist was a relatively thick blue metal bracelet. It had a round screen on the top of his wrist and somewhat resembled a watch. But instead of a clock face, the bracelet had the letters "E-H" glowing faintly green back at him.

The object was alien. And that made him feel sick.

Evan pulled on it hard, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't seem to get it off. It had no clasp and no amount of pressing the little buttons on either side of the screen did anything. The thing wouldn't budge either, almost as if cemented to his wrist. His stomach did flips and it got harder to breathe. Evan could sense the oncoming panic attack.

He had been kidnapped and had no idea where he was and his phone was gone so he couldn't call for help and this strange thing was stuck to his arm and oh dear god this was the end this had to be it.

He hopefully considered the possibility that he was dreaming, but this all felt far to real to be a fantasy.

No. Evan was going to die.

He turned to the door to his room and was met with a flash of white. It was a note.

'Welcome to the Game of Letters. To prove your ability to partake in this game, all you have to do is leave this room. Inside the locker is an envelope that must not be opened until you have escaped. You will find what you need underneath the bed. You have fifteen minutes'

The note said in printed text. Just as Evan finished reading it, the porthole glass behind him shattered and a torrent of water began to pour into the room.

Evan screamed, his heart beating a mile a minute. This really was a life or death situation. He felt the adrenaline win over. He didn't have time for Dr Sherman’s breathing techniques or crying. He couldn't die now. He had to survive. He had to find his mom and figure out just what the hell was going on.

  
He attempted to open the door, but it appeared to have a padlock requiring a code. Damn. Of course it wouldn't be that easy.

Next, he grabbed the envelope from the locker and shoved it in his pocket. He supposed it would be better to comply for now, considering his life was on the line here. He then turned his attention to the bed.

With shaking hands he reached under it as the water just about covered the floor. Underneath it was a briefcase. Ugh. He dragged it out and dumped it on the bed, then flicked it open.

On the inside were two keys, a blue one and a red one. Scrawled across the briefcase's interior in black marker were the letters "LK".

Oh god. It was a _puzzle_.

Evan forced himself to breathe as he snatched up the keys, attempting not to drop them considering how much his hands were shaking.

Keys. Keys went into locks. Now where were locks?

The vanity.

He was over there in a second, forcing the keys into the drawers. To his utter relief, the two outer drawers opened with little resistance. The water level was rising, but he simply couldn't let himself focus on that just now. Taking deep, ragged breaths in an attempt to maintain sanity, he inspected the drawers.

In the drawer that the blue key opened was a box. It was small, black and it appeared that a two digit number was required to open it. On its lid was scribbled "shards of pride" in messy white script. Evan wanted to scream. What did that even mean?! That made no sense! Whoever this was was an awful person, Evan thought bitterly as he attempted to focus. They were probably watching him fumbling around like some kind of mad scientist would watch a lab rat. He was probably some kind of joke to them. Evan knew for certain that he wasn't laughing.

Shards? What could that.... he looked around frantically and his eyes landed on the vanity's mirror. Cracked.

Vanity, pride. He understood.

Evan couldn't help but roll his eyes as he counted the number of pieces the mirror was currently cracked into. Twelve. Good.

He entered the number and the box clicked open. Thank the heavens.

Inside were the letters "GC"

Good. Another piece of the puzzle.

The water was almost at his knees. Evan's heart was pounding and his head hurt. Breathing was difficult, but he had to keep it together. He had to live.

With that thought, he turned his attention to the drawer opened by the red key. This drawer was filled with a black substance that appeared to be soot.

This wasn't even a puzzle it was just time consuming, Evan couldn't help but think bitterly. Maybe this person really did want him to die here. If so, he wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

He thrust his hands in and began feeling. For something, anything that could help him escape. His fingers brushed something and he quickly grasped it and pulled it into view, brushing off the soot. It appeared to be the alphabet written down in pretty cursive… wait no. Letters were missing.

Evan internally cursed as he scanned the card. It took him a minute, but he concluded that this alphabet was missing the letters "U" and "D".

That had to be them all now. Right? How many slots were on that lock again?

The water had reached the middle of his thighs.

 _Live, live, live_.

His brain screamed. Repeated inspection revealed that the door had a padlock that needed a six letter password to be entered. Good, so he had all the letters after all.

Evan's throat and eyes burned with the extreme urge to cry. He was so close. He had to live first.

He recalled the letters he had been supplied with. "LK" then "GC" then "DU". No matter which way he ordered those pairs, he couldn't create a word that made sense. He entered the letters in the hope that the password was just random characters, but no. The lock tauntingly remained shut. It seemed like it was mocking him. Laughing at him considering it was the only thing keeping him from freedom and he couldn’t beat it. So close yet so far. Evan frowned, running it through his jumbled head again. He could make the word "luck" with those letters. But that left "G" and "D". Luck... Evan thought as hard as he could.

GDLUCK? Maybe? Like as if to say "good luck" or something? It was the only option he had that made any sense.

He entered it and almost cried with joy when the lock snapped open. Wow. What a pretentious prick. Good luck? Why would someone kidnap him, drop him into this completely unfamiliar place and threaten his life only to wish him luck?

This person wanted him dead. Evan just had a feeling.

He pulled the door open with all his strength as the water reached his hips. He could worry about that when he was out of this death trap.

Because, as he made his way out into the corridor and started running when the water followed him, all Evan Hansen could think was that ok yeah, he was a pathetic human being, but he sure as hell was going to get through this alive.


	2. Ok. So This is Definitely Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn't know that man. At all. He had had no clue who he was. But now he was gone. Just like that.
> 
> This was real. It still hadn't really hit him until this exact moment just how real it was

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooooo the gang's all here! I probably won't be consistent with updates but here we go. Connor has a potty mouth but you probably all knew that anyway. Enjoy! And remember, feedback is much appreciated!

Something Evan was thankful for was that the water out here was a lot shallower. It only reached his ankles which he supposed was pretty good because it meant he could run which was a lot quicker than wading. His legs did feel cold and heavy from the water as he made his way down the hall. Keep it together, you aren't safe yet.

He reached the end of the corridor and was met with a large letter "C" and a map of the deck stuck to the wall. Alright so this was the C deck. Cool.

His thudding heart nearly leapt clean out of his chest when he heard the splashing sound of footsteps from the other direction. He froze up and attempted to steady his breathing as he turned to see who, or what, was approaching him.

It was a girl. Shorter than he was with a determined, stoic expression on her face and purpose in her stride. She wore a short-sleeved floral shirt and jeans. Evan felt that he recognised her from somewhere.

"Oh thank god, someone else is here" the girl breathed as she came to a stop next to him. She too had a bracelet, but the letters on hers read "A-B".

Evan opened his mouth to greet her but he couldn't seem to form words. They clumped up and filled his mouth like sand. Luckily, the girl in front of him seemed to get it.

"We'll talk when we reach higher ground" she nodded firmly and snatched the map off from where it was tacked to the wall.

Right then. Stairs. They had to make it to stairs. Preferably ones that went up.

The girl grabbed his wrist and started pulling him along as she bolted down the hallway neither of them had come from.

Evan felt like the greying white walls and metal doors of the corridor were closing in on him, it was getting harder and harder to breathe. It was getting more difficult to comfort himself with 'just a little farther' because who knew for sure just how much farther it would truly be.

He forced himself to focus on keeping his feet moving as they ran and the feeling of the girl's hand on his wrist. Physical things that could help ground him in reality. She held him tightly, securely. It was comforting.

Evan was well out of breath and thoroughly soaked by the time they reached a stairwell. The water reached their knees and although it didn't feel massively threatening, he was extremely glad to move on upwards and leave it behind.

The girl squeezed his wrist as they hastily climbed to the upper deck.

"My name is Alana. It's not really the best circumstances I know, but it's nice to formally meet you. I believe we attend the same high school?" She introduced herself with a slight smile. Her eyes were still filled with concern and Evan could tell she was being extremely brave and trying to put on a confident face. He definitely admired her for that.

"E-Evan.." he rasped. Between being out of breath from doing more running in one go than he had for at least a month, his heart was still pounding out of his chest and he felt like he could cry any second.

"We're gonna be ok Evan" the girl, Alana, said soothingly. From the way her voice wavered, he could tell that she didn't entirely believe that herself.

They reached the top of the stairs and entered another corridor that looked similar to the one below, but nicer and a little wider, thankfully. The walls were cream and the floor was carpeted for one. They were right next to a large set of double doors which appeared to be the most promising way to go without getting lost in a maze of hallways, so Evan looked at Alana and they both nodded before pushing the doors open together.

Evan wasn't entirely sure what he'd been expecting, but this wasn't it. This was a large hall, almost like a ballroom of some kind and it seemed rather luxurious when compared to the decor from the C deck. The floor was carpeted and the walls were a clean cream colour like in the hallway. From the ceiling hung a large chandelier and at the room's centre, against the wall, was the largest grandfather clock Evan had ever seen. There were sets of curving stairways on either side of the hall at one end leading upwards onto a raised area. The railings were painted gold and there were oil paintings of various landscapes hanging on the wall.

This was something alright.

What Evan, and apparently also Alana, hadn't expected was company.

There were four figures in the centre of the room.

Two of which Evan recognised immediately.

"M-Mom!" He cried out in a shaky voice as he broke away from Alana's side to sprint forward.

Heidi looked up in surprise before holding her arms out, eyes welling with slight tears.

He crashed into her, almost knocking the both of them to the ground. Before he knew it his mother's thin but strong arms were wrapped tightly around him and he was crying. Evan didn't even try to resist, he let the sobs wrack his frame.

He'd been holding it in this whole time and he was so, so scared.

He didn't know how long he cried for while his mother comforted him. Slowly though, he began to calm down. His head hurt and his chest felt hollow from the sobs, but he sort of felt better. Like his head was clearer somehow.

So he slowly pulled away to see just what was going on.

Alana had crossed the room to join them and was rubbing at her eyes. Maybe she had cried a little too.

The second person he had recognised, his sort of an asshole friend practically since birth, Jared Kleinman. Evan noted that Jared's face was paler than he'd probably ever seen it before, features etched with worry that he clearly tried to hide when Evan looked at him.

The other two figures took him a moment. One was another girl about his age who he recognised as Zoe Murphy, the talented guitar player from the school's jazz band. She had a stubborn sort of defiant expression on her face. As if she felt little fear but mostly anger at their current situation.

The second was an older woman with auburn hair that Evan most certainly didn't recognise. She looked to be about his mother's age, maybe slightly older. She had an arm protectively around Zoe and was looking at him with pity and concern.

"S-sorry.." he mumbled quietly, his voice still croaky. The woman he didn't know was first to interject.

"It's quite alright dear, you're being very brave. We're all probably a bit... lost just now.." she smiled encouragingly although she was clearly scared herself. There was a look in her eyes that Evan couldn't read.

Heidi gave him another quick hug and stroked his hair.

"It's fine honey, as long as you're feeling better now" she smiled softly. She too looked chilled in a way though.

"Geez Evan, this boat is already flooding we didn't need a second torrent on top of that" Jared laughed, clearly attempting to lift the atmosphere. His voice cracked though, and Evan knew it only did that when he was nervous or upset. No one laughed anyway, Zoe even shot him a glare.

It was at this point that Evan noticed all of them wore bracelets too. All of them like his and Alana's, but with different letters adorning the faces.

The moment of quiet reflection was rudely interrupted by two people entering the room from the upper level. One of them was yelling.

"There's no way you can possibly be blaming me for this shit!" One practically growled.

"Connor please. I'm just saying, it was a call from the principal involving you that was the last thing-"

"I'm fucking terrified, who knows where we are! I'm not gonna let you blame this on me too for god's sake" the second, presumably Connor cut off the first.

The woman's face had lit up briefly at the voices but her brow quickly knitted in concern.

The two people, two men, reached the lower floor and made their way over to the others.

Evan vaguely recognised the one who must be Connor from school. He was talked about a lot. He stalked over to the group with his hands in his pockets and his shoulder's raised defensively.

The man following behind him wore a grim expression on his face, Evan thought he seemed rather imposing.

The woman hurried over to him and hugged him.

"Larry what on earth is going on?" She asked shakily. Connor rolled his eyes.

Larry shook his head.

"I don't know. I don't..." he but down on his lip.

It was at this point that Evan remembered his envelope. That had to contain something that would help them right? Or else why on earth would he have been given it?

He pulled it from his pocket and tore it open but froze when someone spoke up in an accusatory voice.

"Hey look. He's got something" Connor glared and gestured to him.

Everyone stopped and focused their eyes on him.

"I-it was in the room I woke up in I-I..." he mumbled. You've done nothing wrong. It's all ok. You can explain this.

"Well let's hear it then" Connor frowned. He clearly didn't trust him.

Evan just nodded so hard his might fall off and began to read the letter's contents.

  
‘If you are reading this note, then it means you escaped the flooding room. Congratulations, by the way.

The real game however, starts here. Welcome to the Game of Letters, here are some rules I think you'll want to stick to:

1\. You have all been equipped with bracelets. Those bracelets are your way of opening doors and can only be removed if you pass through the final door or if your heart stops beating.  
2\. The aim of the game is to make it through the door with the α symbol on it.  
3\. You will reach doors that have certain letters on them. Only people whose names contain those letters can pass through that door by scanning their bracelet on the “RED” terminal. From there, you have exactly two minutes to scan your bracelets on a matching “DEAD” terminal inside the area. If you are unsuccessful, you will be terminated.  
4\. No more than five people can enter through one door, and no less than two can enter through a door.  
5\. Once through one of the lettered doors, you must solve that room’s puzzle in order to escape and progress.  
6\. If you break any of these rules, you will be terminated.

Simple enough? Simply make your way through the ship to the door bearing an alpha symbol.

You have twenty four hours.

Good luck to all.

-Alpha'

It took Evan a decent amount of time to recite the slightly damp letter, considering the fact that he stuttered the entire time, but eventually he reached its end. Terminated? What did that even mean? He felt sick. Whoever this 'Alpha' was, they sure did have a twisted sense of fun. He took a deep breath, looking up from the paper to survey everyone else.

Connor was first to act.

"This is bullshit!" He spat, clenching his hands into fists so tight all colour drained from his knuckles.

"Is Alpha the one who fucking kidnapped us? I bet he's laughing at us right now. You hear me asshole? Stop fucking laughing!" Connor shouted, frantically looking round the room, probably for evidence of a camera or something he could scream at.

Everyone started speaking at once. Jared was moaning and groaning flatly, Connor was still yelling, his mother and the other woman started trying to calm each other down, Zoe and the tall man, Larry, were arguing and Alana was muttering worriedly to herself. Evan felt his chest tighten again, this chaos was unbearable.

"S-stop it! All of you!" Evan found himself exclaiming. He quickly covered his mouth in shock as they all silenced and turned to look at him once more. Great. Hope that's what you wanted, idiot. What have you got to say that could possibly make any of this any better?

He opened his mouth to choke something out but was shocked into silence as the sound of a door slamming open echoed from the upper level. Another person? Were they a group of nine? As Evan attempted to organise these thoughts, the new figure bolted from the upper level.

Before anyone could really register what was happening, the person, an older man, had Alana by the wrist with the blade of a small pocket knife pressed to her throat. Evan had no idea who he was but he was terrifying.

He had a crazed look in his eye and his hair was all tangled. He looked insane. Evan felt his throat begin to close up, heart once again pounding out of his chest.

"No one move!" The man bellowed, even though no one had and seemed to be too horrified to even think of it.

Alana's breaths were short and shaky and her body trembled with fear. Evan wanted to help her. But what could he do? There was no way he could beat this man in a contest of strength, and even if he did move in to help, he couldn't risk this man harming Alana.

The man slowly dragged her over with careful steps to a door that had "A or R" spray painted red onto it's wooden panels. Evan hadn't noticed it before, but now he could hardly tear his eyes away.

The man pulled sharply on Alana's wrist, causing her to cry out, and waved her bracelet over an odd looking device next to the door.

He pulled the lever on the device and the door clicked open. He threw the trembling Alana to the ground and looked up at them all once more.

"Enjoy rotting here for the rest of your short lives! I however am getting off this ship!" He snarled and headed through the door on his own. Evan watched helplessly as it snapped shut behind him. The rules said... this man had broken the rules. That meant...

At first there was silence, then a frantic banging on the door and screams of terror from the other side. If Evan had thought he was scared before then this was something else. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe couldn't do anything.

The door shook with the man clearly throwing his weight against it.

"Help me! Help! Help please! I've been lied to! It can't end this way I can't!" His screams were growing more desperate. Evan was rooted to the spot in horror, he couldn't even begin to imagine what was happening on the other side of the door.

His mother bolted for the scanner, but it read "Occupied" as opposed to "Vacant" and wouldn't respond to anything she attempted to do.

After a few more seconds of wailing and begging, there was a loud boom from the other side of the door that startled everyone, even though they had all been focusing intently on the door. So this was what "terminated" meant.

Evan covered his mouth in shock. No... not this early... they couldn't have...

He felt dizzy and was hit with waves of intense nausea. The room in front of him began to spin and he fell forward to his knees. The others might have started speaking at this point but his brain was so muddled that the voices were all muffled.

The room beyond the door was now eerily silent and the scanner, the "RED" referred to in the letter, once again displayed "Vacant".

He didn't know that man. At all. He had had no clue who he was. But now he was gone. Just like that.

This was real. It still hadn't really hit him until this exact moment just how real it was.

But it was real and the only way to make it out of here alive was to act the lab rat. Their lives were on the line, one had already been lost.

They had no choice but to follow Alpha's orders and play this sick Game of Letters.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes™ Alright. So there will be blood n stuff next chapter. I can't promise when it'll be out? But probably soon. Thanks for reading!


	3. Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She seemed satisfied, so she turned away and led the others across the hall to the other door. Evan watched her go.
> 
> He noticed Connor giving him a slightly sour look as he did, but he could deal with that later.
> 
> They had a door to open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School's started back so I don't know how often I'll have time to write. Also warning for this chapter, mentions of blood and a dead body. Also brief mention of vomiting? No actual puke though but I want to be safe. As always, enjoy!! And let me know your thoughts I love reading them!!

There was a solid five minutes where no one spoke. They all just stared at door in front of them in shared solemn silence.

Evan shuddered. This was awful. He wanted to go home. It wasn't fair. He didn't even have any medication with him so he really wasn't sure if he'd be able to make it through all this without another breakdown. He felt sick.

His mother cleared her throat after a short while, breaking the grim silence that had settled over the group like a blanket.

"Well... as terrible as I feel about what just happened, we really can't stay here, we have to-" she paused to swallow thickly and wrap her arms around herself for encouragement.

"We have to move on so.." she bit down on her lip. Her face was pale. Evan had never seen his mother look this weak before. She looked drained. Like a ghost of her usual cheery self and Evan hated it. He hated Alpha for doing this to her.

"That man just... he just died!" Zoe interjected with a shaky tone, gesturing wildly to the door with one arm. She was clearly still attempting to process what she had just witnessed. Evan wanted to comfort her but in reality he didn't know how.

"No shit. But she's right, Zoe. I hate to admit it because it's fucking scary but we'll all end up just as dead as that guy if we don't start moving" Connor groaned, one hand twirling and pulling gently on a lock of his long hair. Evan would assume that this was a nervous habit of Connor's. He had noticed him wringing his hands earlier too.

"Well we have some options if I can quickly have your attention. There's that door, and there's also another one over there" Jared piped up, pointing out the second door on the other side of the hall.

The second door had "K or D or Z" scrawled on it in the same red spray paint. It also had a "RED" device next to it, identical to the one beside the "A or R" door.

"So... we have to work o-out who can pass through which door right?" Alana breathed, clearly still not fully composed.

Jared nodded, shooting a finger gun that indicated "bingo" in her general direction.

"Right. And if I haven't lost all my brain cells then I can go through either door" Jared grinned, but there was no life in it. Evan could tell that he was just as scared as everyone else was. Evan knew Jared. He knew that he was a master of hiding his feelings from others.

Evan briefly recalled how Jared hadn't even cried when his dog was hit by a car and had to be put down when they were ten. He had just looked kinda sad then made jokes about how the dog was old and her time would've been right around the corner anyway.

That's just who Jared was. Evan couldn't remember ever seeing him cry.

"Oh yeah ok so, if we're gonna work this out without a total brain ache, we should tell each other our names." Jared continued, as if it was obvious which Evan supposed it kinda was, crossing his arms and shifting his weight onto one foot.

It was a good point.

Heidi seemed to think so too as she took a deep breath and started to speak. Evan instantly felt thankful as she looked at him questioningly and he gave a subtle nod, hoping no one else was paying enough attention to notice. She shot him a small smile in response. His mother really was the best ever.

"Alright, I'll start then. My name is Heidi Hansen, and this is my son, Evan Hansen. I'm sure some of you kids know each other through school already though" she explained, smiling hopefully at Connor, Alana and Zoe. Evan just fiddled with the hem of his shirt, not being able to make eye contact. There's always something weird about hearing your full name said out loud by someone else.

"And I'm Jared Kleinman, the one. The only" Jared said as if trying to come across as cool. He was sure he noticed both Murphy siblings roll their eyes, even Alana looked unamused. It was such a normal Jared thing though that it made Evan feel a little bit better. Like he wasn't on a sinking ship surrounded by people who were practically strangers after having heard a man die and was instead in Jared's room while they played cards, Jared made bad jokes and they ate so much junk food they felt really ill but both would agree that it was totally worth it.

But no. He was here. A man was dead. They too could very easily end up just like him.

The other woman spoke up next.

"I'm Cynthia. Cynthia Murphy and this is my husband Larry, my daughter Zoe and-"

"Connor Murphy" Connor interrupted defiantly. Evan noticed Cynthia start a little at his outburst and her eyes kinda get wider.

Connor just shrugged nonchalantly.

"I for one, can introduce myself. I don't need you to do it for me" he sighed and rolled his eyes, kicking at the ground. Evan really hoped that wasn't aimed at him. Well why would it be, Connor didn't even know him so there was no way he could hate him already. Could he? Had he done something wrong and already made a bad impression? He felt his chest tighten and had to stop to remind himself. Breathe, Evan, remember to breathe.

"I suppose that leaves me. My name is Alana Beck, I'm a member of the student council so there's a chance some of you might know me already" Alana spoke quietly. She was shaken, but putting on a brave face and speaking out to hide her fear. Evan liked her, she seemed pretty cool. He could only wish they had met under better circumstances. He'd usually never have the courage to talk to anyone except Jared and even then Jared didn't really like to talk to him at school. He would bet though that he and Alana would have had a good chance of being friends if they'd met in the real world and not in some weird death game.

With that his mother nodded. "So it appears that myself, Jared, Zoe and Alana can go through either door. But I don't believe any of the rest of you can go through the K or D door." She explained.

Evan swallowed. He had to go through the A or R door. The one with a body behind it. He felt nauseous at the mere thought, but if he wanted to progress, he'd have to suck it up. And he definitely wanted to progress. The sooner he got off this ship the better.

He took a deep breath and steeled himself.

"I can g-go with Connor and his parents through this door. The rest of you c-can go through the other door" he said as he looked up. He wouldn't let himself become the weak link in the group that slowed them all down. He was going to be useful.

Heidi's expression softened and she stepped closer to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you sure honey? I can come with you too. If you think you'll need me" she smiled gently.

"N-no. You should go look after the others I... I'll manage." He nodded firmly. He didn't want his mother to see whatever was on the other side of the door. She didn't need to see that.

He had to be strong now. Plus he didn't think Connor or his parents would let anything happen to him. They were all on the same side, right?

It was then that those nasty, intrusive thoughts that he loathed so much started to surface again. What if he couldn't trust them? What if Connor really did hate him? What if they all escaped the room and left him behind? Would he just be trapped there until he died? The thoughts grew gnarled and twisted within his mind, threatening to shatter the little confidence he had built up for himself.

Evan almost jumped out of his skin when he felt something hit his arm. Not hard enough to be sore, but definitely hard enough to get his attention. He started in surprise and turned to see Connor standing behind him, looking at the ground and refusing to make direct eye contact.

"Hey ok so you look like you're kinda freaking the fuck out so... if it helps at all we'll do our best to look after you and uh... stuff" he shrugged reluctantly, glancing back at Cynthia who nodded in approval.

Evan felt a little better after that so he just nodded.

"I'm assuming we'll meet back up later, so stay safe and I'll see you soon ok?" Heidi smiled encouragingly and kissed his cheek. Evan nodded, shooting her a small smile that he hoped would ease her worries.

She seemed satisfied, so she turned away and led the others across the hall to the other door. Evan watched her go.

He noticed Connor giving him a slightly sour look as he did, but he could deal with that later.

They had a door to open.

"Here goes nothing" Larry frowned and waved his bracelet over the scanner next to the door. A blip appeared where the writing that read "vacant" had been.

Cynthia went next, repeating the motion and causing another blip to appear. Connor followed, creating a third blip. Then it was his turn.

Evan took a deep breath and waved his shaky hand over the scanner, causing a fourth and final blip to appear.

Larry moved forward to the door's handle, grasping it firmly.

"Whatever's beyond this door, we're going to take it like men. We're going to move past it and get out." he said firmly. He sounded almost like he was talking to himself. Evan just watched as he pulled the small lever on the side of the RED, unlocking the door, then pushing it open.

Evan noticed a beeping sound pipe up the moment the lever was pulled. He looked down at his bracelet where the sound was coming from to see that instead of the usual "E-H" the face of the device bore a flashing skull and a timer counting down from two minutes. The sight almost made his heart stop.

"We have to find the DEAD terminal first! Or we'll end up like that other guy!" Larry ordered as they sprinted through the doorway.

It was dark. So dark that Evan couldn't see. A pit formed in his stomach when he heard their feet hit something wet.

They hurried forward, feeling along the walls for the terminal until Connor found it and yelled for them to hurry the fuck up and get over there, or something like that.

They scanned their bracelets and pulled the lever. The faces of the devices returned to normal. Thank god. The beeping had been driving Evan insane.

Apparently activating the DEAD (what a creepy name for some dumb scanner wow. Evan hadn't had the chance to stop and consider this fact yet. Not until this moment just now.) also turned on the lights as the four of them were suddenly blinded as their surroundings were illuminated.

When Evan dared to open his eyes, he instantly gagged and had to brace himself against the wall.

The sight before him was just plain brutal.

The corpse, could it really even be called a corpse at this point considering the amount of pieces it was in, was probably the most twisted and disturbing thing Evan had ever seen.

Blood spattered the walls and even the ceiling of the short corridor they had found themselves in. It was everywhere. Dark, thick and crimson. They had even trailed bloody footprints up the hallway with them in the hunt for the DEAD. There were... lumps of what Evan could only assume to be the man's body mixed in there too, covering the floor and stuck to the walls. Some were still slowly sliding down it.

There was no clear skeleton to be seen, it must have been truly blown apart. He didn't think he'd ever forget this image as long as he lived. No matter how much he wanted to and how hard he tried.

The thought that he, his mother or any one of the other people stuck here could end up like that filled him with a sickening fear. It made him nauseous. It made it hard to breathe.

Cynthia had buried her face in Larry's shirt so she didn't have to look at the disgusting mess and he had one arm protectively around her. Larry's expression was stoic and unmoving, he appeared to be rigid with fear or discomfort or something along those lines.

Connor's eyes were wide and he was violently fiddling with his fingers. Evan noted that his hands were also shaking.

He supposed they were just lucky no one had thrown up or fainted, though considering how pale they had all turned, the possibility was still there.

Evan gagged again and felt a hand grab his arm.

"Please don't puke. If you do there's no fucking way I'm holding it in" Connor muttered quietly, his voice sounding hoarse but stern.

Evan just nodded and did his best to swallow the bile rising in his throat.

After a minute or two of silence, Larry coughed to get their attention.

"We should uh... we should... see what it is we have to do to... uh... get out..." he mumbled. This was the most vulnerable he'd seen Larry look yet.

After another moment, the others nodded in agreement. They had to keep moving and find out what else was here.

Evan took a deep breath. Whatever puzzle Alpha had set for them here, they'd solve it.

After seeing the man's body, he swore to himself that he wouldn't let anyone else end up that way. So he lifted his head and spoke.

"R-right then. Let's get out of here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! Next chapter will be the first real escape room!


	4. Evan Hansen Likes Trees Apparently

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "W-well I mean trees are pretty cool and I was an apprentice ranger at this p-park a while back so..." Evan stammered. He'd gone and done it now. Jared had always said the tree thing was nerdy and weird and now any respect Connor might have possibly had for him had been totally obliterated. Well done Evan.

The thing with puzzles is that they always have a solution. Half the time you attempt a puzzle, get stuck, then inevitably kick yourself when finding out how blatantly obvious the answer was when you're forced to look it up. The other half you just give up or stop caring. Sometimes you solve them and it feels really, _really_ good.

Evan wouldn't have said he particularly minded puzzles, he just thought it was rather sick of Alpha to make them hunt for the damn thing in the first place.

The place they had found themselves in consisted of a short corridor with two cabins branching off of it. There was a locked door at the end of it which was presumably what they had to open.

The door itself looked rather odd. Other than two unlit lights above it, there wasn't a keypad or scanner or anything nearby that would suggest how to unlock it. Instead there was a strange mechanism of the likes Evan had never seen before.

It somewhat resembled a picture frame split in half horizontally with four pegs sticking out of each half. On each side of the board was also a small crank on the left and a cog on the right.

Ah, so the pegs were for cogs. Sure.

The whole thing seemed fantastical and pretentious. Evan would never admit it out loud but under other circumstances he would have thought it looked pretty cool.

Considering that he was currently pretending there wasn't a dead man behind him and that there wasn't creepy bracelets on their wrists, he couldn't really find it within himself to enjoy it at this particular moment.

"What the hell is this monstrosity?" Connor scoffed, eyeing the door up and down. Evan noticed him pulling on a lock of his hair again.

He wanted to tell him to stop it, that it would weaken the hair or something like that and that it looked like it hurt so he should fiddle with his clothes instead, but Connor kinda scared him.

He didn't actually know very much about Connor Murphy. Only that he was barely ever in school and that everyone else was creeped out by him.

Evan figured that was kind of unfair and liked to give people chances. He didn't think that judging him right away was the best idea.

He knew what that felt like, after all.

"It seems we need to find something to make this strange door mechanism work, so that we can get out of here. I'd imagine we'll find them in the cabins" Larry sighed.

"W-we could split up to search them faster?" Evan suggested quietly, not quite making eye contact once again.

"Sure! Sounds good! We'll take this one!" Connor beamed over enthusiastically and without a hint of sincerity as he grabbed Evan's arm and pulled him into the cabin on the left before his parents could say a word.

Evan instantly tensed at the contact and felt his heart begin to pound, making him feel a little sick again. He didn't resist though and followed Connor into the cabin, flinching when the taller loudly shut the door behind them.

He didn't know what to say. What even _could_ he say in that situation? How much did Connor dislike his parents? Enough that he'd pick him over them without hesitation? So then it must be a lot because Evan was convinced Connor didn't like him. Would it be appropriate to ask about it? Could he do that? Was that like, insanely insensitive? Evan's head hurt as these thoughts swam wildly throughout his mind.

When he zoned back in, Connor was in front of him, stooping a little so they were at the same eye level. He was frowning, but his eyes held slight concern. Evan recoiled, not at all expecting the closeness. He didn't fail to notice the slight hurt that flickered over Connor's face so he instantly started apologising.

"I-I'm sorry I wasn't... expecting... I just... I'm r-really sorry I.." he trailed off, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

"Stop that" Connor frowned.

"S-sorry.." he replied again. Oh god. Connor must _hate_ him by this point.

"That. Stop apologising. There's no way I wanted to get stuck in there with those two. It was kinda sudden sure that's fair but you're also like, super fucking jumpy I guess? Either way I suppose I fucked up dude. I do that a lot." He paused briefly, looking at the ground for a moment before meeting his eyes again.

"We should really start searching this room" Connor sighed, the moment of vulnerability completely disintegrated, placing his finger and thumb on his temples as if to calm himself.

Evan noted that there was chipped black nail polish on his nails. That was pretty cool. He didn't know any other guys who did that.

He opened his mouth to reply, hundreds of possible questions on the tip of his tongue about Connor's parents, the nail polish and so much else, but he just couldn't bring himself to ask so he simply nodded.

Connor nodded curtly back at him and turned to start searching the room.

The cabin was small but nicely furnished. It had a bed, a vanity, a chest of drawers, bedside tables and a couple lamps. It also had a small ensuite bathroom. Nothing about it seemed particularly out of the ordinary.

Connor headed into the bathroom to search there without another word, oh dear, so Evan decided to check out the vanity.

It was far nicer than the one in the C deck cabin and the mirror was intact this time. There was a jewellery box on it but not much else. Evan sighed. This was a pain.

He started rummaging through the box. There was mostly bracelets and beaded necklaces of different colours, but amongst all of those he found a cog.

That was easy. Was this just a scavenger hunt? Evan could manage that.

"I found a cog!" He called, he should probably keep Connor in the loop. A moment later he heard confirmation that Connor had got one too.

He wandered around the room, opening drawers and searching for a bit until he heard a voice call out of the blue. He wouldn't lie and say it didn't startle him.

"Hey Hansen, come take a look at this" Connor called from the ensuite. He sounded confused and a bit disgruntled.

So Evan hurried to the bathroom.

Connor simply gestured to a cabinet with a padlock on it. The door was made of glass and Evan could make out another cog and something else sitting on the shelf inside.

The padlock required a four letter password. Of _course_ it did.

"There was one cog stuck kinda behind the mirror and I got that one. There's one in there but... The only clue I can see is that but I have no idea what it means" Connor continued pointing to one wall of the bathroom.

Stuck to it was four leaves, each with a number written next to it.

So they clearly corresponded to the padlock, it was just a matter of figuring out how.

"Well that first leaf is from an elm tree, and the second is an oak. The third is a sycamore and I think the last might be from a walnut."

Connor blinked and stared at him.

"W-well I mean trees are pretty cool and I was an apprentice ranger at this p-park a while back so..." Evan stammered. He'd gone and done it now. Jared had always said the tree thing was nerdy and weird and now any respect Connor might have possibly had for him had been totally obliterated. Well done Evan.

"That is pretty cool" Connor shrugged, looking as disinterested as Evan thought physically possible.

"Y-yeah.." he bit down on his lip. The silence was palpable.

"Anyway so you think the names of the trees or whatever is linked to the password?" Connor asked, turning to look at the cabinet again.

Evan nodded.

"Y'know I could probably just smash it. Then we could get that stuff without needing to do any of this bullshit." Connor continued thoughtfully.

Evan's stomach twisted.

"N-no you can't! You saw what happened when the other guy... and the d-door..." he babbled, the last thing he wanted was Connor blowing up before his eyes for something as dumb as a cabinet.

Connor just shrugged.

"Fair point. So how do we figure out the code then tree kid?" He sighed and folded his arms.

"Tree kid?" Evan questioned. He was reminded of Jared's clever nickname of 'Acorn' from when he'd broken his arm. He still used it sometimes. Just when Evan was starting to think he'd finally forgotten and let it go, Jared would bring it right back again.

"You like trees. Just solve the damn puzzle. I'm sure you can do it" Connor frowned and rolled his eyes.

Evan decided not to push it and studied the wall again. Next to the elm leaf was a two. There was a one next to the oak leaf and sycamore leaf and seven by the walnut leaf.

Evan frowned in concentration. This was a game about names. It would make sense that the puzzles would be too right? So it could be the initial of the name of the tree species, but that didn't involve the numbers.

That's when it hit him. That was it. Evan was certain.

The numbers were to indicate which letter it was. For the elm leaf, the letter would be 'L' because the number was two. That would mean the the next two letters would be 'O' and 'S' respectively because of the ones next to the leaves. Lastly would be 'T'.

L-o-s-t. Lost. Clever, Alpha, but Evan wasn't lost. Not with this dumb problem.

His victory must have shown on his face as Connor spoke up.

"You figured it out already? Damn" he moved his hands to pockets. He sounded almost impressed which made Evan's cheeks heat up.

Evan just nodded, hurrying to enter the word into the padlock and quietly congratulating himself when it snapped open.

"It was to do with the letters. In the names of the d-different species" Evan started but stopped when he noticed Connor looking bored. He simply turned to retrieve the cog, scissors and what appeared to be a tile from the cabinet.

"Do you uh... n-not like puzzles then?" Evan asked shyly. He supposed it would be a good idea to be as nice to Connor as he could manage. If the guy didn't get on with his parents then it would suck to be in a situation like this with no one to confide in.

"I wouldn't say that exactly. I like riddles and stuff. I guess I'm still too fucking pissed off to actually give a damn about solving anything." Connor shrugged. Evan didn't fail to notice his expression soften slightly at the mention of his liking for riddles. Maybe there really was more to Connor than met the eye.

"Ah... that's pretty cool" Evan nodded and focused his attention on the tile.

It matched the colour of the checkered bedspread pretty well so Evan relayed this to Connor and they headed out of the bathroom.

The tile had a grid on the back with a small dot in one of the squares.

"Hand those here" Connor spoke up after studying it, holding his hand out for the scissors. Evan handed them over and after a second of studying the quilt, lips moving slightly as he counted, Connor leaned over and took the scissors to one of the squares. He let out a small noise of satisfaction, finding another cog sewn into the inside of the square.

"That's the last one" Connor grimaced and held it up to look at it.

"L-let's get out of here" Evan nodded eagerly. He hoped his mom was ok.

Connor hummed in agreement and they hurried out into the hallway. Evan placed his two cogs onto pegs they could fit on and Connor did the same. They had filled each peg in the top half on the strange system.

Evan turned the crank in the only direction it would move until one of the lamps above the door lit up. Success!

Cynthia and Larry emerged soon after. Evan couldn't help but notice the mutual dirty looks between Connor and his father as Cynthia fitted the cogs she and Larry had found into place.

He pretended he hadn't though.

No one really spoke as Cynthia fiddled with the crank until the second lamp lit up above the door. Evan's heart jumped a little as it did, maybe, just maybe they could do this after all.

Cynthia turned the handle and the door swung open.

It was time to move.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! I've been enjoying getting some nice comments and stuff from y'all so it would super sweet if you could keep leaving 'em!


	5. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was as if this space and the hall from before were in completely different worlds. They were astoundingly different in atmosphere.
> 
> Evan felt sick. To be fair, he'd never stopped feeling sick this entire time. It did come in waves though, and this was most definitely a wave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow I've been actually doing ok with updating lmao. Watch me jinx it. I feel like I should say, I haven't played 999 in a long time and I'm kind of working from memory and the fact that this story won't have the same plot as the game. Just felt I should get that out there in case I make a horrendous mistake.

It didn't occur to Evan even slightly to look back. That hallway with that mess was somewhere he would pretend he had never been.

The four of them ran. Why the sudden urgency, Evan wasn't entirely sure but he did know he wanted to see his mom again and know that she was ok.

Connor seemed to be about as unfit as he was as both of them huffed and puffed while running.

Eventually, the hallway they were hurrying down opened up into a large, imposing room. Evan stopped, causing Connor to almost crash into the back of him. He heard Connor start to protest but quickly silence when he too noticed their new surroundings.

The room was massive. It was quite possibly larger than the hall from before with the clock. Instead of being lavishly decorated however, the walls were a clinical white and the floor was grey linoleum. There were four white pillars throughout the room and the artificial lighting made Evan's skin crawl. What was possibly the most striking was the metal objects placed uniformly in rows within the room. There must have been more than fifteen. Maybe even twenty. Evan couldn't tell if they were surgical tables, old fashioned beds or something completely different but the atmosphere they created within this room sickened him to his core.

It was as if this space and the hall from before were in completely different worlds. They were astoundingly different in atmosphere.

Evan felt sick. To be fair, he'd never stopped feeling sick this entire time. It did come in waves though, and this was most definitely a wave.

He jumped when Connor placed a hand on his shoulder, but then relaxed a little, realising the intent wasn't malicious.

"This place is super fucking weird but you gotta keep it together Hansen" he mumbled. Connor's reassurances sounded more like threats, Evan had noticed, but he knew Connor was trying his best despite the situation. They were all in this together. He wasn't alone.

On the far side of the room was another two lettered doors. This must be the rendezvous point then, and the other's weren't here yet.

Evan swallowed the lump in his throat as his mouth went dry. They were ok right? They had to be. He hadn't heard any bangs that would signal... he couldn't bear to think of it. There was no way it could be true.

Just as he was mulling over those terrifying thoughts, he heard footsteps from another corner of the room.

Thank god.

Zoe was first to come into view. Then Alana who appeared to be holding Zoe's hand, then Jared and his mother.

He called out.

"Evan! Oh thank the heavens" his mom breathed and hurried forward to hug him and check him over to make sure he wasn't hurt.

Cynthia hurried over to Zoe to do the same thing.

"And you too, oh I'm so glad" Heidi smiled at Connor, who had been sulking and scuffing his shoe on the floor, and placed a hand on her chest to steady herself.

Connor looked shocked for a second, but then nodded curtly.

"Thanks Mrs Hansen. Good to see you guys are also y'know. In one piece" he said a little awkwardly, clearly not used to being fussed over in this sort of manner.

That caused a pang of hurt somewhere deep within Evan. Connor wasn't so bad. He just wasn't treated in the right way or something. That must be why he didn't like his parents. It was weird because Cynthia seemed so nice and while Larry was a little scary, he didn't seem like a bad person.

He shouldn't be one to judge though, it wasn't like he personally witnessed everything that went on in Connor's home life.

Evan greeted Jared who was looking a little lost while his mom told Connor to call her Heidi and that it was quite alright.

"I'm... uh... glad you're ok Jared" Evan smiled slightly, fiddling with the hem of his shirt again.

"Really? You don't sound all that enthusiastic about it" Jared deadpanned and rolled his eyes.

Evan's heart sank and his hands grew clammy. He really was trying. He opened his mouth to speak when Jared cut him off.

"It's alright you nerd I'm just teasing you. I'm glad you're ok too, what with being stuck with Messed-Up Murphy over there" he continued, his expression softening into a smile.

"Connor's not... he's... that's not very n-nice Jared..." Evan frowned. He knew Jared lashed out more often when he was scared but Connor deserved a chance. Connor wasn't that bad.

"Are you kidding? Do you know what people say about him? I know you live under a rock but I mean wow..." Jared's eyes widened slightly.

"Well other people can be wrong. Have you ever actually had a conversation with him?" Evan snapped then clapped his hand over his mouth because he really just said that. Oh god this wasn't good. Jared looked shellshocked for a moment before grinning.

"I'm proud of ya buddy! You actually made a comeback!" He laughed. Really. Only Jared could appear semi-cheerful at a time like this.

"Well uh... have you?" Evan mumbled sheepishly.

Jared shrugged

"I guess not. Just be careful kid." Jared said while placing a hand on his shoulder and actually seeming sincere for a brief moment before he covered it up with a disinterested expression.

"Alright listen here all of you" Larry called, causing everyone to silence and turn to him almost instantly. The guy just had that kind of influence. Evan noticed that the minute Larry spoke up, Connor's kind of amused expression turned sour again.

"Seeing as we're on a time limit, we should proceed with caution through the next set of doors. So we should probably work out who'll go through each one" he explained, as if it wasn't obvious.

While he'd been speaking, Connor had wandered over to said doors.

"Yeah there might be a flaw in that plan. The REDs are broken" Connor objected monotonously.

Everyone turned their attention on him and slowly gravitated towards the doors.

As he got closer, Evan noticed that he was right. The REDs were missing their levers and the little display box that should show the word "vacant" was empty.

Great. Just perfect. Alpha seemed to love all this unnecessary stuff and Evan really, really didn't.

"Let's look for them then. They must be around here somewhere, it wouldn't be logical to ask us to play a game then make it impossible to proceed only a little ways in" Alana spoke up. She still sounded nervous, but Evan noticed that the wavering in her voice was mostly gone. She was staying near Zoe, which Evan assumed meant the two had become friends. That was nice.

He glanced at Connor. Would it be incredibly dumb of him to think that the same could come of the two of them? There was just something about Connor that interested him.

They decided to split up to search for the missing parts in the surrounding areas. Evan, his mom and Jared took the corridor with cabins that he, Connor and Connor's parents had ran down earlier while Connor took the large room and the others took the other doors leading off of it.

Most of the cabin doors were locked except for two so those were what they searched.

It went largely uneventful until they found one of the missing levers in a drawer on a bedside table.

Just as they were about to head back to tell the others, Jared pulled him aside.

"Hey uh.. so I found this? It seemed pretty out of place and kinda like something we should take with us. Plus it kinda made me think of you so... I think you should have it" he explained as he pressed a small object into Evan's hand.

The object was an acorn. Relatively large as far as acorns go and into it was carved the outline of a tiny four-leafed clover. Why anyone would take the time to carve something into a damn acorn of all things, Evan really wasn't sure. The handiwork was so delicate though that Jared was right, it had to be an item that meant something.

"Th-thanks I guess." He smiled slightly and pocketed it.

"No problem Acorn." Jared paused to laugh.

"Remember when I called you that for like an entire month after you broke your arm? Damn it was just over a year ago now, right?"

"How could I forget... you kept it up for ages" Evan chuckled softly then nodded.

"Yeah" he shifted uncomfortably. His arm wasn't really something he wanted to talk about.

Taking the hint, Jared sighed fondly and folded his arms.

"We should probably get that thingamajig back now. I don't want my head bitten off for keeping you back" he grinned and turned to leave. Evan just shook his head and followed.

When the got back, it turned out Zoe had found the other lever. Both of them easily snapped back into place, luckily.

Now to decide who went where.

The first door had "Y or L" painted on it and the second had "EE or O".

After a brief discussion of working things out, it was decided that Alana, Jared, Larry and Cynthia would go through the first door and the rest would go through the second.

Zoe looked reluctant to leave Alana and Evan tried not to stare as the two shared a hushed conversation. They linked pinkies then Zoe waved as the first group headed through their door.

"Man. I hope Alana's gonna be ok" she sighed.

"I'm sure she will be honey, your parents and Jared will make sure she doesn't start to panic" Heidi smiled. Evan would argue that Jared couldn't care less, but then again they were in an alien situation and Jared had been nice to him earlier.

Zoe just sucked in a breath and nodded.

Her hands were shaking now. She'd looked so calm before. Evan would guess that she was putting on a brave face so that Alana could rely on her to keep her grounded, but now that she was gone, Zoe could afford to let her guard down a little.

Heidi squeezed Zoe's upper arm reassuringly then scanned her bracelet on the door.

"We should get going, we don't want to end up too far behind the others" she sighed.

Everyone else scanned their bracelets and braced themselves.

"Ready?" Connor warned. When everyone nodded, he pulled the lever on the RED.

It was time to get this over with.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are very much appreciated I'm Trying My Best™. Also you can come hmu on tumblr @kokorokarisu if you want!!


	6. Heidi's Really Cool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I know this sucks. I'm terrified. W-we're all scared but... I think... if we could just..." Evan felt his throat close up and his eyes begin to sting. He was so done with all of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the break's been a little longer since updates! School is a bitch lmao. I didn't proofread this one very thoroughly like at all so sorry if I mucked up.

The instant the beeping began to ring from his bracelet, Evan's heart began to pound. Heidi pushed the door open and the four of them bolted through, searching for the DEAD terminal. Luckily, this room wasn't pitch black, so it didn't take them very long to locate and scan their bracelets on it. The beeping ceased and Evan breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't think he'd ever get used to that.

They appeared to be in some kind of laboratory. He had assumed it was a kitchen at first, but looking around now, it seemed far more scientific.

The floor was tiled and the walls were probably once white but had faded to a light grey. There were a couple work benches with various objects on them and another door to one side, possibly to some kind of store room. There was a metal door at the far end with a keycard scanner next to it that was presumably their way forward. What was really weird was a large glass partition between one smaller section of the room and the main area. The glass wall had a door off to one side that would allow a user to enter through to the other side.

Evan gulped.

He hadn't really taken the time to consider what the ship they were on was used for. He had assumed it was a cruise liner earlier on with all the cabins and that large main hall, but all this was really changing his mind. He had no idea and that scared him.

"Right then" his mother frowned and cracked her knuckles.

"Let's see what's going on in here" she continued and headed over to the glass wall.

Evan nodded and headed over to look at one of the work benches. There were two beakers fixed to the table and a piece of paper with what appeared to be instructions written on it.

The paper had "E + A + A + T =" written on it and next to that was a key symbol. Below that was written "C + O + T + R =" then a skull symbol. Weird.

"Connor you can't just not do anything! We all need to try if we want to get the hell out of here" Zoe's voice spoke up loudly from somewhere across the room.

"I just don't know what to do maybe? Reality check but this is weird and we all can't fucking process stuff instantly" Connor snapped back.

They continued to argue back and forth and Evan knew they'd get nowhere if no one made an intervention and Heidi was clearly trying to figure something out over at the supply room door which she'd moved over to at some point.

So, against his better judgment, he made his way over to the two of them.

"Evan. Tell my fucking brainless little sister how I helped you out back in that other room" Connor looked at him as he approached before turning to glare at Zoe.

"No tell Connor that him being a dick is making this entire situation worse" she frowned. Evan noticed her hands were shaking.

"I-I think the two of you... uh... need to..." he swallowed the lump in his throat.

It wasn't fair. Connor and Zoe had both seemed so nice in their own ways, but they couldn't seem to get along. _They_ had each other in this situation. They had family and neither of them could appreciate it.

"You're both better than this. Is this the time to start fighting? Really?" He scolded, trying to sound firm and authoritative like his mother but he knew he wasn't pulling it off.

"I know this sucks. I'm terrified. W-we're all scared but... I think... if we could just..." Evan felt his throat close up and his eyes begin to sting. He was so done with all of this.

The Murphy siblings shared a look before deciding to try and comfort him.

"Wh-why don't you both talk it out? Instead of all.... all this..." Evan mumbled, trying his best to keep it together.

Zoe took a deep breath. She was clearly weighing up the pros and cons of spilling her thought. Slowly, she opened her mouth to speak.

"I just. I'm worried about everything. I don't know what's going on but I don't like it. I'm worried about Alana, I promised her I'd help her through this because she just... she seemed so scared and... I thought... this is my chance to be someone heroic and do something really cool you know? So I promised her I'd look out for her but it means I have to keep everything inside myself and I just... I..." Zoe rambled, her voice beginning to waver.

"Connor and I don't get along at home, Evan. We argue a lot and honestly you'd probably barely call us family. But I had this tiny thought that maybe in a situation like this we might just be able to work together again like when we were kids but every time I try to open my mouth and say the right thing the wrong thing comes out instead. We're so different now and so far apart that I don't... I don't even know how to talk to him." She grew quieter, staring at the floor intently to avoid eye contact. She sniffed and rubbed at her eyes.

Zoe had seemed so strong. She was someone that Evan thought he could easily rely on without fear of her breaking. But she was just as troubled as the rest of them and he couldn't let himself forget that.

"Zoe... I..." Connor had gone slack jawed. His eyes were wide with surprise and some intense rush of emotion that Evan couldn't possibly begin to understand.

"You're the perfect kid y'know? Mom and dad love you to fucking bits and I'm just... I'm just a mess. They probably wouldn't care if I vanished, it'd be less shit for them to deal with. I guess. I just. Don't know how to deal with that and..." he paused, as if weighing up whether or not his next words were worth saying.

"I take it out on you which I shouldn't and... I'm sorry"

Zoe gasped audibly. She had already begun to cry but was definitely pretending she hadn't.

"That's the first time I think... you've said sorry to me in a very long time" she breathed, rubbing at her eyes and slowly looking up.

Evan noted that Connor had balled his hands into fists and had a very odd expression on his face. He wasn't crying but was clearly attempting to suppress it.

Slowly, tentatively, Zoe began to hold her arms out. She looked scared, like she could flinch away any second.

Just as slowly, Connor stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.

They stood like that for a moment and Evan rubbed his eyes. He was proud of them.

He noticed Heidi smiling at them as she headed over and pulled the all of them into a group hug.

"You kids are gonna get out of this I promise. We all are. You've got long, wonderful lives ahead of you. When we do get out, why don't we go somewhere in celebration eh?" She smiled.

They nodded.

"Let's get through this room then. I managed to unlock the door to the supply room over there if you want to check it out" she stated, pulling away and getting ready to take action.

Evan nodded. There was one thing he wanted to do first though.

He turned to Zoe and fished the acorn Jared had given him out of his pocket.

"I-I think you should have this." He held it out to her.

"It's probably good luck a-and... if you're worried about Alana and about everything then... I think it might help... maybe.." he mumbled as she took it from his hand and inspected it.

"Do you know what a four leaved clover means?" She looked up at him inquisitively. Ok. Not the response he'd been expecting.

He shook his head.

"Each leaf means a different thing. They mean hope, faith, love and luck" she smiled bitterly.

"I think we could all use some of those right now" she sighed and put the acorn into her pocket.

"Thank you" she smiled slightly and ran a hand through her hair.

Evan just waved a hand dismissively. Hope, faith, love and luck. Zoe was right. They all needed some of each thing to keep them going. There was also that fact the oak trees could symbolise strength and resilience, something they also needed. But he wasn't going to start rambling about trees just now. They'd wasted enough time as it was.

He took a breath then explained to the others what he had found on the bench. They decided together that checking the supply room for something to help them would be a good move, so headed over to investigate.

The room was small enough that only two people could really fit inside comfortably. There was a bunch of shelves covered from top to bottom in small glass vials. Each vial contained a liquid and had a letter written on it.

It clicked.

"We have to make the correct solutions by taking the vials with the same letters as written on the paper" he nodded, feeling pretty pleased. This wasn't too hard a room after all.

Connor helped him grab all the vials they would need and hummed softly as they made their way back to the bench.

It sounded nice. Connor probably wasn't a half bad singer. He'd kinda like to hear him sing. Not that Evan would ever say anything like that out loud of course.

He realised when Connor started giving him a weird look that he'd been staring and that was not good at all so he busied himself with pouring the contents of the vials into the beakers in what he assumed was the correct combination.

After pouring the contents of a C, O and two R vials into one of the beakers, there was a loud click. One of the drawers in the bench suddenly sprung open to reveal that inside it was a red keycard. Could they just get out now? Was this it?

As Evan turned, holding the card to ask this, Zoe spoke up.

"You need two to unlock the door. There's two sliders and two little lights" she sighed.

Ah well. Half way there was ok too.

He poured the other vials into the second beaker and another drawer opened with a click.

Inside this one, was a scrap of paper that read "The killer's name resides within the very months we take for granted. The victim hides the key."

Evan frowned. What on earth was that supposed to mean?

"Evan! It's probably for this thing here, come take a look" Heidi called from next to the glass partition.

Evan hadn't really gotten a good look at what was on the other side, but looking at it now, it was an odd sight.

The area behind the glass was set up to look like a study, but the rug was rumpled and there were papers strewn on the floor. Sitting slumped over an old mahogany desk was a crash test dummy wearing clothes clearly not from this century. There was an axe embedded in the back of its head.

Evan shuddered. The sight gave him the creeps.

"The door has 'whodunnit?' Written above a keypad, so I think we need to solve that riddle." Zoe called from the door.

That made perfect sense. Of course. If the victim really did hold the key, then once they got in there, they would be able to escape.

Good.

"I'm pretty sure I've heard this riddle before" Connor yawned.

Everyone turned to look at him and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Yeah. Something about a name in months." He paused in thought, trying to remember.

"I remember now. The first letters of the months from July to November spell 'Jason'. I think I told that for Halloween one year" he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Zoe punched 'Jason' into the keypad and et voila, the door opened.

They were so close!

Everyone paused. It was clear that no one wanted to go in there. The scene was creepy after all.

Eventually, Heidi stepped forward.

"I'll get it" she assured them as she headed in. Evan had the best mom.

She cautiously stepped over to the dummy and searched it. Evan held his breath, the tension was so thick it could probably be cut with a knife.

After what seemed like an eternity, she pulled a blue keycard from one of the pockets on the dummy's coat and hurried back through to rejoin them.

"Let's go kiddos" she grinned and headed to the door.

"Your mom's really cool" Zoe whispered as they followed and he nodded in agreement.

She was. She really, really was.

They scanned the two key cards and the door clicked open. Score.

Heidi held it open as they all hurried through. Alpha could suck it.

They were going to make it.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading as always! I appreciate every comment and kudos I get so it'd really inspire me to keep going if you keep leaving them!

**Author's Note:**

> Right thanks for reading!! Everyone else will show up next chapter I promise. This is kind of a prologue I suppose?? I would love to hear your thoughts though so gimme a comment if you can!! It'd make my day.


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